The invention relates to a mechanism for effecting a displacement output, and in particular, but not limited to, such a mechanism for use in a system for controlling a valve in an internal combustion engine.
In internal combustion engines, control of fuel flow is administered by changing a cross section area perpendicular to the flow direction or volume of a typically tubular flow path by means of valves. Traditionally, an engine cam that controls valve opening timings and opening sizes is rotated by a power transmission chain connected to an engine crank shaft. The rise and fall of cam movement causes each valve to open and close continuously, synchronizing with engine or piston movement.
However, wear and tear on the cam profile causes variation of reduction in rise and fall of the cam. This variation affects the valve opening and closure and hence fuel flow. This in turn affects the performance of the engine due to improper fuel intake and incomplete combustion due to loss of precision in the valve opening timing and sizes. Furthermore, in the traditional cam-based valve operation, flow of fuel depends on cam displacement only, and it is nearly impossible to control the flow of fuel with valve movements after the cam-based valve control has been mounted on the engine.
In general terms the invention proposes a flexure-based mechanism for effecting displacement. Used in an internal combustion engine, the mechanism may provide improved directional displacement over conventional cam-based valve control, thereby improving fuel efficiency. The mechanism may comprise flexure connections and may be used for opening, closure and control of intake or exhaust path of internal combustion engines, since the flexures which operate based on a deformation mechanism provide directional control and displacement control for valve displacement.
Solid state actuators such as PZT, PMN, electro-strictive/magneto-strictive actuators or conventional actuators may be used for actuation of the mechanism. The mechanism is particularly suited for use in automobile, fluid and hydraulic systems, oil & gas systems, ship/navel systems, aerospace applications and space applications. Embodiments may provide a flexural system for controlling valve operation with displacement/force amplification or reduction. It may be used for precise control of flow at an engine fuel intake, or precise control of opening and closure time of a valve for possible optimal or maximum combustion of fuel, thereby providing a camless solution for valve operations.
It may be possible to control or operate valves independently of the prime movers such as the engine, and to control each valve independently of other valves. Helical springs in traditional cam-based valve control may be replaced with flexures. This may reduce space required for valve operation and achieves controlled movement of the valve with extremely high setting time, while at high to moderate setting time, accelerated movement of the valve may also be achieved. Force amplification in addition to displacement amplification may also be achieved together with the use of reinforcement flexures to avoid back-buckling. This may be accomplished by using individual actuators to independently actuate flexural modules configured for force amplification, displacement amplification and reinforcement. Simultaneous same-direction or opposite-direction opening or closure of multiple valves with a single-point actuation may also be achieved.
In a first specific expression of the invention there is provided a mechanism according to claim 1.
In a second specific expression of the invention there is provided a system according to claim 15.
Embodiments may be implemented according to any of claim 2-14 or 16-17.
In order that the invention may be fully understood and readily put into practical effect there shall now be described by way of non-limitative example only exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the description being with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings in which:
Exemplary embodiments of a mechanism for effecting a displacement output will be described with reference to
In its simplest form, as shown in
Preferably, one 41 of the at least one component 40 is configured to receive actuation by an actuator 70 in order to actuate the at least one flexural module 20. The at least one flexural module 20 is independently actuatable using the actuator 70 such that actuation of the at least one flexural module 20 in the direction shown by arrow 71 displaces the output component 43. In the configuration shown, the output component 43 is displaced in the direction shown by arrow 75. Depending on the application in which the flexural module 20 is used, displacement of the output component 43 may lead to opening or closing of a valve, for example, if the flexural module 20 is used to actuate a valve in an internal combustion engine.
The actuator 70 used may be a solid state actuator such as PZT, PMN etc., which is operated through a precision power amplifier that can change the frequency of actuation as required. In place of solid state actuators, any kind of actuators like electromechanical systems or hydraulic actuators may be used. For example, the actuator 70 may be any one of an electro-mechanical, electro-magnetic, hydraulic, mechanical, thermal, thermoelectric, opto-thermal, or electro-thermal actuator. The actuator 70 is appropriately preloaded if necessary and is assembled into the flexural module 20 without any significant play. The actuator 70 is preferably controlled by electronics in a computer controlled system in such a way that the components 40 may oscillate or displace the output component 43 at different speeds. The frequency of oscillation should always be below the resonant frequency of the flexural module 20 or the actuator 70, whichever is lower.
When the mechanism 10 is used in an internal combustion engine, the actuator 70 is controlled by the electronics preferably so as to halt for a few micro/milliseconds for a sufficient fuel supply at an intake valve as well as for the adequate combustion before outlet valve opening. The electronics system is preferably integrated with sensors, for example proximity sensors, for precise operation regarding the fuel supply and the amount of combustion. Besides proximity sensors, other sensors such as thermal, optical, electric charge (capacitance), mechanical load, electric resistive, electric current, fluid flow and/or sonic sensors may be used where appropriate.
In one example, as shown in
In order for the displacement flexural module 120 to provide displacement amplification, distance between the output portion 141-o and the bearing portion 141-b of the displacement component 141 is greater than the distance between the input portion 141-i and the bearing portion 141-b of the displacement component 141.
In one configuration, the displacement flexural module 120 may comprise a frame 130, three components 141, 142, 143 and three flexures 151, 152, 153. The frame 130, the three components 141, 142, 143 and a valve (not shown) are interconnected via the three flexures 151, 152, 153 respectively. In this exemplary configuration, the second component 142 is provided to connect the displacement component 141 with the output component 143. A second flexure 152 is provided to connect the output portion 141-o of the displacement component 141 with a first portion 142-1 of the second component 142, while a second portion 142-2 of the second component 142 is connected via a third flexure 153 to the output component 143 that displaces in the direction shown by arrow 175 when the actuator 170 actuates in the direction shown by arrow 171.
Alternatively, the displacement flexural module 120 may have only one component 141 that is connected to the output component 243 via a further flexural module 220 provided in the mechanism 10, as will be described below with reference to
In one embodiment, one displacement flexural module 120 may be provided to activate two output components 143-1, 143-2 in an identical operation, that is, the two output components 143-1, 143-2 are displaced in a same direction as shown by arrows 175, as shown in
In another embodiment, one displacement flexural module 120 may be provided to activate two output components 143-1, 143-2 in a non-identical operation, that is, the two output components 143-1, 143-2 are displaced in opposite directions as shown by arrows 175-1 and 175-2, as shown in
Alternatively, as shown in
In order for the force flexural module 220 to amplify force provided by the force actuator 270, distance between the input portion 241-i and the bearing portion 241-b is greater than the distance between the output portion 241-o and the bearing portion 241-b.
In an exemplary configuration, the force flexural module 220 may comprise a frame 230, two components 241, 242, 243 and three flexures 251, 252, 253. The frame 230, the three components 241, 242, 243 and a valve (not shown) are interconnected via the three flexures 251, 252, 253 respectively. In this exemplary configuration, the first flexure 251 connects the force component 241 with the frame 230. The second component 242 is provided to connect the force component 241 with the output component 243. The second flexure 252 connects the output portion 241-o of the force component 241 with a first portion 242-1 of the second component 242, while a second portion 242-2 of the second component 242 is connected via the third flexure 253 to the output component 243 that displaces when the actuator 270 actuates in the direction shown by arrow 271. In this configuration, the output component 243 displaces in the direction shown by arrow 275.
Where the mechanism 10 comprises two flexural modules 20 such as the displacement flexural module 120 and the force flexural module 220 described above, an alignment flexural module 420 as shown in
Preferably, the alignment flexural module 420 comprises two alignment components 441, 442 having a same length and arranged in parallel. First ends of the two alignment components 441, 442 are preferably connected via flexures 451 to the frame 130 of the first flexural module 120 while second ends of the two alignment components 441, 442 are similarly preferably connected via flexures 452 to the frame 230 of the second flexural module 220.
In the configuration of
As shown in
dp˜x2/2l (1)
where x is the displacement and l is the length of the alignment components 441, 442.
In the mechanism 10 shown in
Preferably, the mechanism 10 additionally comprises a reinforcement flexural module 320 as shown in
The reinforcement flexural module 320 preferably comprises at least one reinforcement component 340. A first end of the reinforcement component 340 is connected via a flexure 351 to a frame of the at least one flexural module 20, while a second end of the reinforcement component 340 is connected via flexures 352 to a support component 342. The support component 342 is configured to receive actuation by a reinforcement actuator 370.
In the embodiment of
When used in an internal combustion engine for valve actuation, by connecting the output component 243 to the valve, the mechanism 10 shown in
A system 90 for valve control as shown in
In general, the power amplifiers 92 can amplify low voltage into high voltage signals. Each power amplifier 92 receives input signals from the digital signal controllers through a digital signal controller (DSC). A programmed DSC or control card is an intelligent part of the systems connected to the computer via communication ports. The positional information or feedback signals from the valve sensors are fed into the DSC via an analog-digital-converter (ADC). The realtime position of the valve is fed through the ADC to the DSC which processes and regulates valve displacement accordingly by sending signals to the power amplifiers 92.
In all the embodiments described above, the flexures used may be of one or more various types such as a uniform cross-section leaf spring shown in
The system 90 may be provided to replace conventional cam systems for internal combustion engines entirely with the flexural modules 20 performing required valve control operations. This eliminates the need for coupling with the engine through any transmission media and it functions independently of engine speed. The system 90 may be synchronized with the speed of the prime movers (engines), and yet function independently of the prime movers or other flexural modules. The system 90 may also be synchronized with other valve operations in real-time if this is required for optimization. Each flexural module 20 functions like a spring. Using electronics to control the configurations shown in
A preferred manufacturing process of the mechanism 10 includes using wire-cut EDM (electrical discharge machining) to complete the mechanism 10 as a monolithic block of aluminum, where machining to form the frames 30 and components 40, 43 is performed using traditional milling and drilling processes while micro-machining using micro wire-cut EDM is used to form the small flexures 50. Where the mechanism 10 is formed for use in an internal combustion engine, the entire mechanism may have a size of about 75 mm×75 mm×50 mm. A thick block of metal may be used to fabricate multiple mechanisms and then the machined block can be cross sectioned into individual mechanisms, again using wire-cut EDM. The material and/or thickness of each mechanism 10 can be chosen to provide a desired stiffness and/or spring constant. The stiffness of the mechanism 10 can vary from as low as 10 Kg/mm to 10,000 Kg/mm. Materials used for the mechanism 10 can include spring steel, aluminum, phosphor bronze, invar, elinvar, copper, silicon (111), bronze, magnesium, molybdenum, titanium, tungsten, cast iron, mild steel, hard steel, 18/8 SS, duralumin, diamond, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, alumina, zirconia, tungsten carbide, fused silica, fused quartz, zerodur, granitan, crown glass. Besides wire-cut EDM, other methods such as three-dimensional printing may be used to fabricate the mechanism 10.
Using the mechanism 10 in an internal combustion engine has the advantages of optimizing circulation of fuel gas at intake and exhaust, to deploy operating modes for optimized fuel consumption, clean exhaust technology and performance. The frequency or periods of valve lift in the traditional engines are conditioned by the geometrical profile of the cams, which is fixed no matter how the engine is operating. The electronically controlled flexural module system 90 is however able to optimize the various phases of engine running During idling phases, controlled valve opening admits the necessary quantity of air. The timing of valve control achievable with the system 90 to open a single intake valve makes it possible to stabilize the engine at idling point, which consumes little fuel while ensuring a good level of drivability. This may allow elimination of existing exhaust gas recirculation circuits, and may reduce fuel consumption and polluting exhaust emissions, in particular, nitrogen oxides, produced by the engine.
Whilst there has been described in the foregoing description exemplary embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the technology concerned that many variations in details of design, construction and/or operation may be made without departing from the claims.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/SG2013/000211 | 5/22/2013 | WO | 00 |